As we head into the winter season, Covid-19 is still at the forefront of everyone's mind. Because of the dominance of the pandemic, it is easy to forget about the seasonal threats to public health that we routinely deal with this time of year like the flu.
Do not forget about the flu and its potential impact on the health of your employees and your business. Here are a few simple tips that will help prevent a flu outbreak in your office and will help keep everyone safe this winter.
Prevention
The race for a Covid-19 vaccine should highlight how important and beneficial preventative vaccines are in the fight against viruses. At the very least, you should be encouraging every employee who can safely receive a flu shot to get one. The more people in the office that get inoculated for the flu will help mitigate its spread and will cut down on time missed due to illness.
The CDC recommends that you have a "Workplace Wellness Plan" that includes offering on-site flu shots for employees who want one. They are covered by insurance and the small cost of hiring a nurse to administer the shots is a good investment against future losses caused by employees missing work. Believe it or not, offering on-site flu shots also boosts employee morale. They help employees feel comfortable in the workplace and expresses to them that you really care about their health and wellbeing.
Plan Regular Touch-Point Cleaning
In addition to nightly cleaning, it is important to hire someone such as a day porter to be on-site during business hours to address and disinfect high-traffic areas. Touch-point cleaning is crucial to keeping your office open during flu season. Areas that day porters will be able to keep regularly sanitized are:
- Door Handles
- Railings
- Light-switches and Fixtures
- Elevator Buttons
- Common Areas like Break Rooms
- Reception and Waiting Rooms
- Office Furniture
- Floors and Surfaces
Day porters will also be your first line of defense in case a flu outbreak occurs in your building. They will be able to immediately disinfect and sanitize compromised areas and hopefully stop any further spread.
Schedule a Hazard Assessment
During flu season and Covid-19, it is important to hire a janitorial service to conduct a professional hazard assessment of your office and building. They will be able to highlight any problem areas that may need extra attention as well as offer solutions that will help prevent an outbreak.
It is important that during this assessment, you have your commercial cleaners create a schedule for cleaning surfaces such as floors. Floors can often be forgotten as a potential hazard area; professionals know this and will be able to create a plan for regular surface cleaning throughout your office.
Hire Professionals
Seasonal flu prevention in addition to Covid-19 prevention may be outside the abilities of your regular maintenance team. That is why it is important that you hire experienced professionals to conduct a hazard assessment and to maintain the cleanliness and safety of your office and employees during this difficult time. Professionals will be able to provide easy solutions and will bring unparalleled experience and know-how to cleaning your work environment.
